The Ministry of Commerce led an inter-ministerial meeting on January 5 to prepare for the third Cambodia-Turkey Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting, to be held from January 10-11 in Phnom Penh.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 14 ministries and institutions, and presided over by commerce ministry secretary of state Tekreth Kamrang.

The meeting attendees discussed a draft joint note which covered several sectors, including trade, investment, business, industry, science, technology and innovation, halal, small and medium enterprise, agriculture, transportation, civil aviation, health, education and tourism.

The discussion focused on how to best benefit from Cambodia-Turkey bilateral relations, in line with the post-pandemic economic recovery of both nations.

The commerce ministry said trade volume between the two countries totalled $462.63 million in the span from 2017 to 2021.

In the January-November period of 2022, the volume of trade reached $136.149 million, an increase of 63.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. Cambodia exports garments and textiles, footwear, travel goods and milled rice to Turkey, while importing machinery, cotton, medicine, mirrors, and assorted plastic and metal products, said the ministry.